Strangers in the Shadows
by Nabiko
Summary: A mysterious girl saves the gundam pilots in battle. Now she says she's to work with them, but is she hiding more than she says?
1. The New Gundam

Hey peeps! Sorry the beginning is kinda short, but I had only certain things said. Hopefully, you will be interested enough to tell me to continue. I won't continue unless I know at least someone likes it. I'll probably get the next chapter in though, hopefully to get everyone even more into it.  
  
This story is based on Gundam Wing. All characters are the same, but I will be adding 1, maybe more characters. There should be a twist at the end, that's what I'm hoping for, but I'll just have to see where this story goes.  
  
Some characters may [will] seem a little OOC, but just deal with it, some is meant to be that way, some is accidental.  
  
Ages:  
  
Quatre: 15 Duo: 15 Wufei: 15 Trowa: 16 Heero: 15  
  
~Strangers in the Shadows~  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two figures sit in the darkness, one small, the other old. They face each other in silence, no words are said, no noises are made. One sits at a desk, quietly writing something. The other just watches, sitting straight up. Finally, one speaks.  
  
"You know this will be dangerous."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"There will be no room for error."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Once the mission is completed, what do you do?"  
  
"Return to base, or die trying."  
  
"Very good."  
  
Both figures stand up and one picks a sheet of paper off the desk. They hand it to the smaller one, and say, "I wish you best the of luck. Please return safely."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
The smaller figure bows and leaves the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Woooo hooooo!!!!!!!!!" came the excited cry from a very hyper Duo Maxwell. "Don't mess with Shinigami!" With a loud battle cry, he swung the giant scythe around, taking out two of the Mobile Dolls on his right and a third in front of him.  
  
Duo laughed out loud. "Hey guys! Watch this!!!" With an extra burst of power, Gundam 02's scythe bursts into life, radiating even more power than before. Duo let out an excited laugh and quickly began taking out even more MDs.  
  
Heero glanced at the radar, then shouted, "Shit! They've got reinforcements! There's another thousand heading our way!!!"  
  
"What?!" Quatre shouted. "That can't be possible! We won't be able to handle that many!"  
  
"We're going to have to. We don't have any choice."  
  
All five Gundam pilots began picking up their speed. Ammunition doubled in speed and quantity. Scythes, sabers, daggers, and fists sliced, jabbed, and flew twice as fast. There were twice as many explosions everywhere, but eventually the guys began tiring out.  
  
Suddenly, Heavyarms pulled out the dagger on his arm, the one he only used in dire emergency. He was now slashing furiously, but it wasn't as easy to take out attacking enemies in close combat when you are used to long-range battles.  
  
Quatre gasped out as he was hit from an attack behind him. He turned around to face his attacker, but gasped again.  
  
The reinforcements had arrived.  
  
"Kuso! They're here!!!" Quatre shouted. He swerved to the right as someone shot at him. Suddenly, all the MDs were shooting. He couldn't dodge them all, and because he was closest to the newest OZ mobile dolls, he was getting the brunt of the attack.  
  
Quickly, Wufei flew in and started taking out the MDs on the front line. The others just flew even closer, taking the place of old ones.  
  
"Heero! We can't last much longer! Think of something!" Quatre held his side with one hand as he used the other to defend himself.  
  
Heero noticed the note of desperation in Quatre's voice. 'He's right. We need a plan.' Heero thought as he slammed his fist onto the control consol.  
  
Finally, something came to Heero.  
  
"Alright. Duo, Wufei, you two sneak up behind them. Lay low for a bit so they don't notice you are gone. Trowa, cover Quatre and help me take care of them."  
  
"Roger that."  
  
"..."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I hear ya!"  
  
02 and 05 slowly backed away from the fight. Once they had disappeared into the darkness of the space around them, they quickly began to fly around the fight until they were now behind the mobile dolls.  
  
Before either could attack though, the dolls in the rear of the fight turned around and began to attack the stunned Gundams.  
  
"Wha- What the Hell?????" Duo stuttered. "How did they know we were behind them?!"  
  
"It seems they've been modified. They are more difficult to beat now."  
  
By this time, it was clear that the Gundams were badly losing. Outnumbered, they had no chance. While they furiously attacked the oncoming enemy with everything they had, inside the flame of hope that was always there was starting to flicker.  
  
Heero's trembling hand moved to the self-destruction button. He knew that if he was killed, 01 would be taken by OZ and all of the gundam secrets would be out. 'I can't let that happen.'  
  
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Duo's voice rang into 01's cockpit. Heero's head shot up and he looked around. There!  
  
Floating amidst the chaos, a lone gundam was quickly disposing of any MD in its path. A glaive-shaped beam cut into any obstacle, immediately causing an explosion.  
  
'A new gundam?!' Five minds thought at once.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Did ya like it??? Huh? Please say you did! I'm going to write another chapter, just so that you aren't left in the dark. And how about that mysterious pair, anyway???? Do you think one of them will show themselves to the Gundam guys???  
  
Please R&R. I'd love it!!! Plus, it'll get me to write more!!!! *hint hint* 


	2. The New Girl

Here's chapter 2!  
  
Ages:  
  
Quatre: 15 Duo: 15 Wufei: 15 Trowa: 16 Heero: 15 Kyori: 14  
  
~Strangers in the Shadows~  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The new Gundam finally lowered it's beam glaive. With an uncanny human resemblance, it brought it's hand up and appeared to wipe sweat off it's forehead with the back of it's hand.  
  
The Gundam had shown an amazing display. The glaive it carried in it's left hand seemed to be it's primary weapon, but it would often shoot at opposing MDs with homing missiles contained on it's right forearm. It moved with amazing speed and had deadly accuracy when it came to destroying an opponent.  
  
After toying with the OZ mobile dolls for a while, or in other words, destroying a forth of them, the pilot had sent out a message to the other gundam pilots. "Get away!" Stunned, the pilots obeyed without a second thought. They moved back until the battle before them was barely visible. A growing light slowly enveloped the new gundam, then it rapidly spread out until a large sphere of blinding light had circled most of the MDs. The sphere suddenly emitted a flare of light and disappeared, leaving any MD touched by it to blow up.  
  
The gundam doubled over as if exausted. It lashed out at anything coming it's way, but it was now considerably slower than before. Realizing that the gundam couldn't continue fighting, Duo quickly flew over in it's direction, taking out the remaining MDs. Now that they had a chance to recover, all the gundams, including the newest one, all came together, facing each other. The boys watched the new gundam, hoping the pilot would reveal itself. Finally, they noticed movement at the cockpit door.  
  
They watched the hatch open as the pilot floated into open space.  
  
"Wow, he's... small." Duo said. The pilot was wearing a lavender space suit and a white helmet. Because of the helmet, they couldn't make out facial features, but of what they could see, the pilot was a small and skinny person.  
  
"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?" The pilot's voice echoed inside the gundams. It was a quiet, soft, and suprisingly, a girlish voice.  
  
"Who are you?" Heero said.  
  
"You will see when we return to Earth. I am to let you know that I will not hurt you. I was sent here to help you by Dr. J."  
  
"We do not need your help!" Wufei shouted.  
  
Everyone could almost envision the smile on the pilot's face as he said, "It seems you needed help when I arrived."  
  
Wufei was silent.  
  
"Come now. It is not safe out here. They could return soon." The mysterious pilot backed up into the gundam and closed the door. The gundam turned and headed torwards Earth. Its hand made a guesture as if saying, "Come on."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The five boys stood still, watching the purple and black gundam as it entered the hanger. It had backed up behind the other gundams during the flight to earth so that he could follow them. Now they were standing there, watching and waiting for the pilot to exit so that they could find out who this mysterious figure was.  
  
Finally the door opened and the pilot stepped out, no longer without gravity. Taking a giant leap, he jumped and landed easily on the tiled floors.  
  
"Show-off." Duo muttered.  
  
He could have sworn he saw the pilot's eyes move to him through the helmet, but the head hadn't moved.  
  
"Who are you?" Quatre finally said. The pilot removed the helmet, and everyone gasped.  
  
"A GIRL!?" Wufei shouted, outraged. "A GIRL DEFEATED ALL THOSE MOBILE DOLLS! INJUSTICE!"  
  
The girl stood there, suddenly shy without something to hide her. She was small, looking to be only around 12 or so. Her long silvery-blond was tied into pigtails at the base of her neck, and her green eyes looked uncertainly at them.  
  
"YOU piloted the gundam?" Quatre whispered.  
  
The girl smiled. "My name is Kyori.. Erintor. Age 14. Pilot of Gundam 06, The Death Angel."  
  
Holding out her hand, she held a small white envelope.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After Kyori was introduced and Dr. J's letter delivered, the six children had entered the living quarters and sat at the kitchen table. As soon as she sat down, she had been barraged with questions. Everyone spoke at once, all wanting to know the same things. Finally it had taking a normally quiet Trowa to get everyone to shut up so that the questioning could continue in an orderly manner.  
  
"So, let me get this straight. Dr. J suddenly calls, asking you pilot 06, you say yes, and he gives it to you?????" Duo was very confused. Its not everyday that a mysterious (and cute) pilot appears and expects you to believe they were sent by Dr. J without any other words of notice beforehand.  
  
"Thats- about right." Kyori said uncertainly.  
  
Kyori looked into each face, hoping to see any sign of belief in one of the faces.  
  
"And you want us to allow you to live with us?" Trowa said quietly. This was the first time he'd talked in front of her.  
  
She nodded nervously.  
  
"Alright! A chick in the house!!!" Duo jumped up, grabbed her, and started dancing with the poor girl in his arms. Kyori blushed nervously and struggled to get free, pushing against his chest. With one click of the removal of a safety button, Duo stopped, laughed nervously, and set her down.  
  
He faced Heero and the gun and said, "Sorry! Sorry! She's on the ground now!" He stepped away from the other boy. "So, can Ky-chan stay?" He looked pleadingly at the other four boys, his already big eyes even bigger.  
  
'I don't like this. It's too easy. We would have gotten word from Dr. J before-hand if he was planning on sending another pilot...' Heero looked at the girl who was now standing before them, she had her hands clasped in front of her and her head down. 'She's very suspicious. But the letter from Dr. J she gave us isn't a fake, so he knows about her. I guess she should stay, and I'll be able to watch her.'  
  
"Let her stay."  
  
"YEAH! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthadon'tkillmedon'tkillme!" A hyperactive Duo had suddenly launched himself at Heero, but was stopped short when he faced the shiny black toy that he had seen so often. He shrunk back waving his hands in front of him with a cheesy smile on his face.  
  
"Thank you. I appriciate the hospitality very much." Kyori stood before them, bowing slightly, then quickly left the room to get her stuff from 06.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Nice gundam." The girl turned and faced Duo. She gave a short wave and a small smile, then continued on with the repairs to 06.  
  
"Thanks. Hey, could you pass up the disk in that bag? Yes, the black one. Thank you." Duo leaned foreward and looked inside the bag, rustled things around a bit, then exited with a small black disk in his hand. The lable said, 'Death Angel - M.S.S.O. Recharge'  
  
"What does 'M.S.S.O. Recharge' mean?"  
  
Kyori let out a squeek when she hit her head on the armor above her. Scowling and rubbing her head, she turned and looked down so that she could face Duo. He tossed the disk up and she easily caught it, then turned around so that she could face her work again.  
  
A muffled voice finally said, "It means 'Mobile Suit System Overload.' It's the attack I used to sa... defeat those mobile dolls. It's meant for an army of Mobile Suits and Mobile Dolls. Basically, when unleashed, it attacks the systems of any MS in range. It then takes over the system, overloading it and causing the Suit to explode. I only use it when I need to, and it has to be recharged after everytime it's used."  
  
Duo sweatdropped, then said, "O-kay. So, uh, that's why you wanted us to move out of the way?"  
  
She reappeared and smiled. "Yep. I've only used it once. That was what you saw during the battle. I didn't know it's range so I wasn't sure how far you guys should go. Unfortunetly, it works with the other Gundams around me, so I can't use it when you are around or you will be killed."  
  
"Oh." He looked up at the Gundam again, now taking in a good look at it. It was a dark purple and black, with thin armor. Two wings were folded into it's back, wings very similar to Deathscythe Hell's. Two empty hands were hanging limply at it's sides.  
  
"Tell me about Death Angel." He smiled at the name.  
  
She paused as if in thought, then spoke. "She was built primairally for space battle. The dark colors help us blend in, and the light armor allows us quick movement."  
  
"Us?"  
  
"I'm a part of her. She's a part of me. We work together."  
  
Duo grinned. "What other goodies does this baby have?"  
  
Her face reappeared once again. "Ah, I have already told you my most destructive attack. If I told you anymore, I'd have to kill you." She didn't smile, and so Duo figured she was serious and for once decided not to push it any further.  
  
"Dinner!" Quatre's shout rang through the speaker system. Both heads looked up at the same time. Quickly Kyori put away her tools and jumped to the ground as she had before.  
  
"Lets go!" Duo grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her away before she could protest.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sooooooo, we all now know who the mysterious gundam pilot is. But all her secrets haven't be revealed yet. Look foreward to the next chapter. We get a totally kawaii scene involving pajamas, and Kyori gets a visitor in the night. Please R&R so that I will write more chapters. ja ne! 


	3. Ancient Videogames and Late-night Battle...

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! I had a question about ages, so I'll go ahead and put them down.  
  
Quatre: 15 Duo: 15 Wufei: 15 Trowa: 16 Heero: 15 Kyori: 14  
  
Also, just in case anyone wanted to know, this story really won't follow the Gundam Wing timeline very well. Basically from here everything will take a complete U-turn. Actually, I don't think it really started out anywhere in the actual timeline anyway.  
  
~Strangers in the Shadows!~  
  
Chapter 3: Ancient Videogames and Late-night Battles  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Heero clicked away on his laptop. He was always on it, using it nearly as much as the gun he constantly pointed at anyone (namely a certain braided someone we all know and love.) This time though, instead of hacking into mainframe computers or school records, he was searching his email for any hint of a new pilot.  
  
'Knowing Dr. J, he would have at least slipped somewhere. There's got to be some kind of clue!' He looked over at the letter Kyori had handed him earlier that day.  
  
Gundam Pilots,  
  
How are you? I hope your latest mission went well. I suppose by now you have met the newest Gundam pilot, Miss Kyori Erintor. She pilots Gundam 06, a Gundam crafted by the same technicians and mechanics who constructed 01.  
  
She has been sent to assist you in your oncoming battles, as each will steadily become more difficult as time passes by. Please allow her to stay with you, and Heero, don't kill her.  
  
Dr. J  
  
He glanced back to his email and continued reading.  
  
"Hmmm... No, not there... not there either..."  
  
"What are you looking for?" In a flash, Heero had turned around and shoved the barrel of the gun into his onlooker's face, Kyori. She, on the other hand, hadn't looked surprised. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and smiled.  
  
"Are you always this jumpy?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Really? Funny, it sure looked like it to me."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Of course I understand you! I had a friend who spoke the same language. Believe me, being best friends with someone who doesn't speak often involves learning the same language they speak."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Fine then. Good night to you too." She let out a small wave and left the room.  
  
"Strange girl." He looked back to his laptop.  
  
10 minutes later Heero let out a sigh. He'd looked though every email he'd gotten, and there wasn't a single clue anywhere about a new arrival. Every email he'd gotten for the past two months was in there, thoroughly read and reread.  
  
He closed his laptop then carried it back to his room. After locking it safely up, he walked into the kitchen where Trowa was proceding to make dinner.  
  
**********  
  
"Yah! Ha! I beat you again Wu-man!"  
  
"Shut up, baka!" Duo laughed and dodged as Wufei smacked him over the head. They had come into the 'Game Room' after dinner and for about the 50th time, Duo had beaten Wufei at an ancient videogame called 'Super Smash Brothers', a game that was popular in the late 1900's. Somehow someone had come across an extremely old Nintendo 64 and one of it's games, then taken it home for some evening entertainment. As usual, Duo had taken over it, dominating the rights for constant playing.  
  
"New game?" Duo asked.  
  
"Of course! I will defeat you!"  
  
"Alrighty!!!" Duo pressed the 'play' button and the match started.  
  
"Watch out! Mario's coming to town!!!!! I'm going to- AAHHHHH!!!! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR??? NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Duo was now frantically pressing random buttons as he attempted to get away from the attacking Samus.  
  
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I have defeated you!!!! Victory is mine!!!! No woman or braided freak can defeat me!!!" Wufei let out a maniacal laugh.  
  
Duo stared at the chinese boy strangely until he said, "Wu-man? I hate to break the bad news to you, but Samus is a girl."  
  
Wufei began to choke. Soon he was rolling around the floor, clutching his purple face. Duo had to slap Wufei hard on the back to get him to breathe. Once Wufei's face had returned to a semi-normal color (he always was a little pale!!!) he rounded on Duo.  
  
"What the hell do you mean, 'Samus is a girl'!!!!! There's no way HE can be a SHE!!!!! HE is way to strong to be some weak onna!!!!!"  
  
"Just look in the character descriptions. See- there! Right there!!! It says SHE. Samus is a girl."  
  
"Its just some typo!!!"  
  
"Then why does it only say SHE throughout the entire description? Huh?"  
  
"What are you doing?" While the two boys were fighting, they never noticed that Kyori had entered the room and had been sitting in Wufei's spot, listening to half of the conversation.  
  
"Oh, hey Ky-babe!!! We were just playing an old videogame. Wanna play?????" Duo grabbed her arm and pulled her to the floor where she landed on top of Wufei. Once he had climbed out from underneath her, Duo handed her a controller and began telling her how to move the characters around.  
  
"No, no!!!! You hold it this way!" He grabbed her hands and moved them around until they were in the correct spot. When she'd finally gotten her hands in the right position, he said, "Alright. Now pick a fighter."  
  
Her eyes scanned the screen until she saw a cute little pink ball with a bow on it's head. She smiled and picked that one.  
  
"Ok, let's roll!!!" He began the round. As he proceded to pound the crap into Jigglypuff, she was staring nervously at the screen. Finally Wufei leaned over her and pressed a few buttons. The pink blob began to sing, and Duo's man was stopped in his tracks.  
  
"There, now kick his ass!!!" Wufei stood in the background, cheering for the girl. She pressed a few buttons and Duo was sent flying out of the arena.  
  
She smiled and continued to thrash him the exact same way she had the past 18 lives. Eventually, "GAME OVER" appeared on the screen and declared Jigglypuff the winner. She stood up and said, "That was fun. Want to play again?" She gave him puppydog eyes and stuck her lip out.  
  
"Oh no!!! People like you put holes in my ego!!!" She let out a wimper and tears started forming in her eyes. He sighed. 'How can I put up with her???' "Alright. One more game."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That night, Kyori laid in bed, thinking about her first night with her new co-workers. 'And friends...' she thought. 'They seem nice. I admit, Trowa doesn't talk much, and Wufei can be a bit of a sexist, but I can get used to that. Quatre's... very polite. Yes, that's it. He's too polite for his own good, but that's better than being really rude I guess. Heero - I can get used to him.'  
  
She smiled to herself. 'He's so much like Tamora. She rarely talked. So... quiet. I guess it's good I've lived with her for most of my life. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to understand Heero. I know I'll be able to trust him though. He's honorable.' She sighed and turned over, clutching her stuffed monkey Bongo to her side.  
  
'Now Duo, he's someone I know I could like. Outspoken, rowdy, it makes me know that if I need a smile, he'd be there. And I have to work with him, that makes it all the better.' She frowned suddenly. 'Although, he probably just sees life as a game. A game of tag, little kids trying to tag each other. But now, instead of fighting not to be it, we're fighting to be it. To dominate the others so that we can rule.'  
  
She rolled over again, now laying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She attempted to find faces in the pattern above, as she had when she was little. 'I'm not used to unfamiliar beds. It's going to take me a while.' Finally her eyes slowly slid shut as she closed off the world around her and allowed darkness to overcome...  
  
BOOM! She sat straight up in bed, her eyes wide. Quickly she through off the covers and ran over to her desk. She opened up the bottom drawer and pulled out the special belt she usually carried. Inside it contained a pistol, extra ammo, plus a dagger.  
  
She inwordly smiled at the dagger. 'The last gift I ever got from my parents.' Just before she'd left, her parents had given her hard, gundanium alloy dagger. The hilt was beautifully crafted, with small saphires, her favorite jewel, lining the outside.  
  
Returning to herself, she threw it over her head and ran out the door. Entering the living room, she saw the other five pajama-clad boys with some kind of firearm in their hands.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked them.  
  
Quatre looked over at her replied, "It seems someone's decided they want to get rid of us. I don't know why anyone would want to do that though." He smiled grimly at her, then returned to the task at hand.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Duo said, looking to Heero for advice.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"He says.... 'I don't know at the moment."  
  
The other boys glanced at her. She smiled sheepeshly and said, "Hey, I had a friend who lives in the same world Heero does. I've learned to understand them."  
  
A thought struck her. "Why aren't we using our gundams?"  
  
"I guess we could try, but the direction of the explosion came from that way. They might have reached them by now." Wufei gave her a look as if saying ,'Duh, that is so obvious!'  
  
"Alright. So lets go check on them. Come on." She ran out of the room.  
  
"Why does she always want us to follow her?" Duo thought outloud as they ran torwards the gundam hangar.  
  
Dodging occaisional falling debris, they eventually reached the gundams. It seemed that it wasn't the gundams that had been directly attacked. The ceiling had fallen in a few places, but the gundams seemed to be okay.  
  
"Come on! We need to return the favors!!!" Kyori's voice ran through Gundam 06's external speakers as the gundam came to life. With quick nods, the other boys ran to their respective gundams and entered the cockpits.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Within minutes, six gundams were at the suface and facing the enemy. They stood there, shocked, for another few minutes, until Quatre said, "That's it?"  
  
That's it indeed. The army that was attacking their home was no more than ten mobile dolls, mobile dolls who weren't in the best condition at the time at that. Apparently they hadn't noticed the gundams yet because they had yet to charge the gundams or raise fire to them.  
  
"It seems they ran away from home and decided to play with little Billy after all." Duo said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Heero let out an annoyed grunt. "They've obviously gone against any commands they've gotten and decided that it only took ten mobile suits to destroy us. They must have thought if they found us before OZ and killed us then we wouldn't be able to pilot anymore." Kyori explained with a smirk. "But the only thing they did wrong, well, other than using minium MDs, is attack the wrong place in the house."  
  
"Well lets destroy them before they can report where we're hiding!" Wufei shouted.  
  
"Right."  
  
All six began getting ready for battle. It was an unspoken command to all of them to drive the MDs away from the house as not to destroy it anymore than it already had been. So Kyori and Wufei, who specialized in close- combat, attacked the enemy head-on, gradually driving a few at a time away from the house where the others could open fire and destroy them. Soon, only one remained.  
  
"Wait! Let me take this one!!!" The boys looked at Kyori, stared for a second, then gave in.  
  
"Thanks!!! I need practice." With that, she pulled out the beam glaive in her left hand and began to fiercly attack the opponant. Strangely, she didn't just cut it straight down the middle, instead she was attacking it's sides, barely nicking off pieces of it. After a few minutes of this, she got bored and ran the glaive through the center of the now-completely- trashed MD, utterly destroying it.  
  
The gundam bent over, hands on it's amored knees and head down, appearing to be trying to catch it's breath. Eventually it stood up straight again and walked over to them.  
  
"Thanks guys!" Her voice said.  
  
"Why'd 06 do that?" Quatre asked her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You know... bend over and catch it's breath?" He looked at her as if it was totally obvious, but he still had a polite smile on his face.  
  
She let out a sigh. "I guess it's time I explained a little thing about Death Angel." She began walking back to the hangar. The others shrugged and followed her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kyroi was the first one out of her gundam. She waited patiently next to 06 until the other pilots were standing in front of her. When Trowa finally arrived, completing the group of 6, she began.  
  
"Okay. My gundam is um... how can i put this... drastically different from yours. Well, maybe not so much from 01 because of it's zero system... Anyway, 06 is newer, so I have a more recent system programmed into mine. Instead of piloting it completly on visuals and skills alone, I litterally become 'one with the gundam'." She smiled at Duo's face because of the eariler comment she had made when repairing her gundam.  
  
"Once I enter the cockpit, my body is still there, but my mind merges with the gundam's. I become Death Angel. I see what she sees, I feel what she feels. Which is another drawback to this, because if she gets hit, I get hit too. If her hand gets cut off, I feel it too. It's called 'sympathetic pain'. I'm not actually injured, but I feel it." She let out a sigh, then took a deep breath. She then looked into the faces of the pilots, understanding dawning in them.  
  
"So- So that's why your gundam shows exaustion!" Quatre said.  
  
Kyori nodded quickly, smiling.  
  
"You aren't, well, permanently hurt though are you? I mean, until you heal that is..." Duo asked.  
  
"hmmm.... good question." She fingered her hair thoughtfully. "I don't know that one. When I met you was the first time I've piloted with Death Angel, and in both fights I've been in I don't think 06 has been hit."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Oh, shut up!" She shot at Heero.  
  
"Guys? We might want to leave here, because obviously OZ, or at least someone in OZ, knows where we are, and those rougue mobile dolls might have had enough time to report where it was before it was destroyed." Quatre glanced worriedly at the other pilots, and they just nodded.  
  
"Quatre, how about your home?" Trowa asked him. Quatre nodded slowly. They'd never think that the six gundam pilots were currently residing in a beautiful manor.  
  
"I think that's okay."  
  
"Then lets get going!" Duo shout excitedly. He grabbed Kyori by the arm and began pulling her, pajamas and all, back to the bedrooms.  
  
"We need to get dressed first." Wufei told them. He fingered the blue chinese style shirt and pants.  
  
Quatre looked down at his own pajamas, a t-shirt and pants, then smiled. He looked over at Heero and Trowa and looked at theirs. Heero was wearing the same clothes he always wore, a green tank top and black shorts. Trowa was wearing a worn out old t-shirt and boxers.  
  
"We leave first thing in the morning." Heero said, then he walked out of the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ow!! Duo!!! Watch where you're going!!! OOF!" Kyori let out a woosh of air as she ran into a chair, then was once again pulled away. Duo, in an estactic phase, had dragged her the entire way from the hangar to their living quarters. He didn't seem to notice the abuse the girl he was pulling behind him was getting.  
  
"Duo!!! You passed my room!!!" Duo let go of her hand without stopping his running and continued on to his room where he could pack his stuff.  
  
"Hph! That hurt!" She said to the wall. She rubbed the sore spot on her arm and walked into her room. 'Well, that explanation went better than I thought it would.'  
  
Pulling out the backpack she had brought her stuff in, she slowly began putting her few articles of clothing into it. 'At least they didn't seem afraid of Death Angel...'  
  
Once she had stuffed her pants, underware, and shirts into the bag, she walked over to the bed and grabbed Bongo and found a place in her bag for him. Grunting as she pushed down, she thought, 'How come it always seems you have more stuff to pack after a trip than before a trip?'  
  
Finally, with Bongo shoved in the top of the backpack, she walked over to the desk and put her hairbrush and hairties into the bag. Her arm reached over to grab the next object, but paused when she noticed it was the family picture she always kept. She stared at the three people occupying the frame, her mother, father, and herself.  
  
Ever since she was little, all she could remember was a small house in the middle of a small, quiet suburb. She'd spent her childhood there, in the homey little cottege surrounded by dozens of other houses just like it. Gardens sat underneath windowsills, and green, perfect lawns stretched all the way to the street.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
A little girl ran up to a little Kyori. Little Kyori still had her put into pigtails, but they sat on the top of her head unstead of her current hairstyle. The little girl held out her hands and there was a ball. The brown-haired girl stared at Kyori with big blue eyes and silently, without words, said, "Want to play ball?" Kyori didn't need words, she could tell by the hand guestures what the girl wanted. She laughed and nodded, then ran farther out into the lawn until the girl threw the ball to her.  
  
For hours the girls played, until the sun eventually went down. They ran back to each other, still smiling, and crushed each other in a hug. Finally, little Kyori said, "What's your name?" and the other girl realized that she's never said her name. In a whisper she said, "Tamora."  
  
"I'm Kyori. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Tamora nodded and Kyori ran into the house.  
  
~End of Flashback~  
  
Slowly her hand crept up to her neck, where she pulled a thin chain out from underneath her shirt. With tears in her eyes, she opened it up and looked at the picture of herself and Tamora, both laughing, as they posed for the picture. 'This is the only thing I have from her... Maybe I'll see her again one day.' She closed the locket and shoved it underneath her tanktop before anyone could see it.  
  
It was just in time, because a second later Wufei showed up in the doorway. "Are you ready yet? We leave at sun up and it's almost time." Kyori wiped away the tears in her eyes and nodded as she turned around.  
  
"Yah, sure."  
  
Quickly she grabbed the family picture and set it carefully in bag as she followed Wufei out of the room and into the livingroom where they met the other pilots.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
